As Rio+20 takes shape (officially, the United Nations
Conference on Sustainable Development,follow-up to the historic UN 1992 “Earth Summit,”held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil),the issue of sustainable cities appears to be
taking center stage in planning for the June 2012 event dedicated to marshalling the global Green Economy.

“Cities provide a great framework to galvanize public
opinion and citizen participation,” said Jared Blumenfeld, Administrator of
Region 9 of the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). “Cities also have a
lot in common: New York and Beijing have more in common in terms of challenges
they face than do the US and China.”

On the road to Rio, the UN’s “Shanghai Manual for Sustainable Cities”will be released by the UN Department of
Economic and Social Affairs on Nov. 7 as a playbook for mayors of global cities
so they can deploy triple bottom line strategies (I co-authored the manual with
the UN). Blumenfeld, who spoke last week at the Commonwealth Club in San
Francisco, said that the US Department of State and EPA are preparing by next week a Rio+20 submittal that is “cities focused.” (Previously, the United States and Brazil
recently announced the US-Brazil Joint Venture on Urban Sustainability.) Meanwhile, non-governmental organization Ecocity Builders has begun high-level discussions with the UN
and NGOs ICLEI and C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group,
on potential Rio+20 standards for ecocities including the International Ecocity
Framework and Standards (IEFS).

Out of the 1992 Earth Summit,with 110 heads of state and thousands of
non-governmental leaders, emerged pivotal treaties and frameworks for decades to
come, including the Kyoto Protocol
and Agenda 21.
Other products of the first Earth Summit include the Global Environmental
Facility at the World Bank,
and national sustainability agendas in 86 countries based off Agenda 21,
according to Jacob Scherr, director of global strategy and advocacy for the
Natural Resources Defense Council. Continue reading →

About the Author

Warren Karlenzig, Common Current founder and president, has worked with the United Nations (lead co-author United Nations Shanghai Manual: A Guide to Sustainable Urban Development in the 21st Century, 2011); the provinces of Guizhou and Guangdong, China (urban sustainability master planning and green city standards); the United States White House and Environmental Protection Agency (Eco-Industrial Park planning and Industrial Ecology primer); the nation of South Korea ("New Cities Green Metrics"); The European Union ("Green and Connected Cities Initiative"); the State of California ("Comprehensive Recycling Communities" and "Sustainable Community Plans"); major cities; and the world's largest corporations developing sustainability policy, strategy, financing and critical operational capacities for 20 years. Read more here.